As is generally well-known, golf courses have a number of greens in each of which a hole, usually marked with a flag, is situated. The flag enables a distant, off-the-green, player (golfer) to appreciate the hole's location so that he may aim his golf ball thereat, the object of the game of golf being to get the ball into the hole with the fewest strokes from a starting point (tee). Usually the ball is hit through the air to the green upon which it lands and leaves a dent or ball mark. (Greens are closely-cropped grass surfaces on a somewhat loose soil easily dented by the falling ball, which dent (ball mark) interferes with a rolling ball.) After landing on the green, the ball is rolled towards the hole using a putter (usually a hollow metal shaft having a ball-striking blade or head at its lower end and a rubber grip about it at its upper end for holding and swinging it); if the rolling ball strikes a ball mark, it may be deflected in an unwanted direction. Thus the etiquette of golf requires each golfer to repair his ball mark to allow the true skills of subsequent players of the green not to be impeded, and at least one other ball mark (overlooked by an prior golfer).
Today, the repair of golf marks is a tedious task. Usually a small, pocket-carried, two-pronged hand tool is used. The two-pronged hand tool not only requires the golfer to bend over to reach the green surface, but may also require the exercise of substantial hand force (which may be beyond the capabilities of some golfers) to restore the soil to its former condition.